Coming to America

Theatrical Release Date: 1988 06 29 (USA)

UPC: 097361246147

Studio: Paramount

MPAA Rating: R   Contains:[Nudity, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language, Adult Humor, Profanity]

Summary: Coming to America casts comedian Eddie Murphy as pampered African prince Akeem, who rebels against an arranged marriage and heads to America to find a new bride. Murphy's regal father (James Earl Jones) agrees to allow the prince 40 days to roam the U.S., sending the prince's faithful retainer Semmi (Arsenio Hall) along to make sure nothing untoward happens. To avoid fortune hunters, Prince Akeem conceals his true identity and gets a "Joe job" at a fast-food restaurant. Murphy and Hall play multiple roles, and there are innumerable celebrity cameos peppered throughout the proceedings -- including the Duke Brothers (Don Ameche and Ralph Bellamy) from Trading Places. Coming to America made further headlines when humorist Art Buchwald sued the film's producers for plagiarizing one of his works. Buchwald carried the case to trial, where he won a sizeable judgement against the film's producers. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Romance

Awards: Best Costume Design – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Makeup – Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Features: Prince-ipal Photography: The coming together of America
Fit for Akeem: The costumes of Coming to America
Character Building: The many faces of Rick Baker
Composing America: The musical talents of Nile Rodgers
A vintage sit-down with Eddie and Arsenio
Photo gallery
Theatrical trailer

Coming to America

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 06/05/2007

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1, DD2 Dolby Digital Stereo, DD1 Dolby Digital Mono

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English,French,Spanish

Subtitles: English,French,Spanish

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Coming to America
1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 6
7. Chapter 7
8. Chapter 8
9. Chapter 9
10. Chapter 10
11. Chapter 11
12. Chapter 12
13. Chapter 13
14. Chapter 14
15. Chapter 15
16. Chapter 16
17. Chapter 17
18. Chapter 18
19. Chapter 19
20. Chapter 20
21. Chapter 21
22. Chapter 22
23. Chapter 23
24. Chapter 24

Derek Armstrong

Coming to America is a sweet, amiable comedy that reunites the director (John Landis) and star (Eddie Murphy) of Trading Places. Murphy abandons the foul-mouthed raunchiness of his most recent project (the concert film Raw) to play Prince Akeem, a wide-eyed innocent. But the film is most original and best remembered as the first time Murphy played multiple characters in the same movie, an impressive gimmick that would translate to major box-office success down the road with The Nutty Professor. As two of the three salty barber shop denizens involved in the same argument about boxing, Murphy not only wowed with a range unseen outside of his stand-up act, but provided a great showcase for makeup king Rick Baker, who renders Murphy unrecognizable as an aged Jewish man. The writing, by Landis and two others, includes not only the sharp barber shop repartee and Akeem's refreshingly na?ve interaction with New York City, but also several humorous jabs at black culture of the mid-'80s, including the Soul Glo hair gel model played by a young Eriq LaSalle. Funny and observant, but just shy of classic status, Coming to America is a winning, fish-out-of-water movie, elevated by Murphy's exhilarating versatility and the game attempts of then-collaborator Arsenio Hall. Among the supporting performances, John Amos is hilarious as owner of a McDonald's restaurant knockoff, and in only his second film appearance, Samuel L. Jackson pops up as a hold-up man, offering a funny early incarnation of the intense street hood that would one day make him famous. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Calvin Lockhart  Actor 
Jake Steinfeld  Actor 
June Boykins  Actor 
Billi Gordon  Actor 
Mindora Mimms  Actor 
Frankie R. Faison  Actor 
Jerald Vincent  Actor 
Janette Colon  Actor 
Montrose Hagins  Actor 
Karen Renee Owens  Actor 
Kara Young  Actor 
Michele Watley  Actor 
Birdie M. Hale  Actor 
Clyde Jones  Actor 
Aurorah Allain  Actor 
Dottie  Actor 
Ruben Hudson  Actor 
Stephanie Simon  Actor 
Leah Aldridge  Actor 
Vondie Curtis-Hall  Actor 
Elaine Kagan  Actor 
Paulette Banoza  Actor 
Sharon Ferrol  Actor 
Tanya Lynne Lee  Actor 
Michael Tadross  Actor 
Steve White  Actor 
Carla Earle  Actor 
Sheila Johnson  Actor 
David Sosna  Actor 
Arthur Adams  Actor 
Stephanie Clark  Actor 
Victoria Dillard  Actor 
Helen Hanft  Actor 
Monique Mannen  Actor 
Raymond Turner  Actor 
Paula Brown  Actor 
Lisa Gumora  Actor 
Uncle Ray Murphy  Actor 
Eyan Williams  Actor 
Mary Bond Davis  Actor 
Garcelle Beauvais  Actor 
Cynthia Finkley  Actor 
Patricia Matthews  Actor 
Felicia Taylor  Actor 
Cuba Gooding, Jr.  Actor 
Samuel L. Jackson  Actor 
Jim Abrahams  Actor 
Vanessa Colon  Actor 
Loni Kaye Harkless  Actor 
Tonja Rivers  Actor 
Randolph Scott  Actor 
Leslie Belzberg  Executive Producer 
Barry W. Blaustein  Screenwriter 
John Landis  Director 
John Landis  Screenwriter 
Mark Lipsky  Executive Producer 
Nile Rodgers  Composer (Music Score) 
David Sheffield  Screenwriter 
Eddie Murphy  Actor 
Eddie Murphy  Actor 
Eddie Murphy  Actor 
Eddie Murphy  Actor 
Arsenio Hall  Actor 
Arsenio Hall  Actor 
Arsenio Hall  Actor 
Arsenio Hall  Actor 
John Amos  Actor 
James Earl Jones  Actor 
Shari Headley  Actor 
Madge Sinclair  Actor 
Eriq La Salle  Actor 
Allison Dean  Actor 
Paul Bates  Actor 
Louie Anderson  Actor 
Clint Smith  Actor 
Vanessa Bell  Actor 
Don Ameche  Actor 
Ralph Bellamy  Actor 

Country: USA